Phillies Sign Young to One-Year Deal Worth $750K

Outfielder Delmon Young has agreed to a one-year, $750,000 contract with the Phillies, Senior Vice President & General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. announced today. The contract includes performance bonuses.

Young, 27, batted .267 with 27 doubles, 18 home runs and 74 RBI in 151 games for the Detroit Tigers last year. Against left-handed pitchers, he hit .308 (56-182) with a .500 slugging percentage and, defensively, made 29 starts in left field. In 13 postseason games, Young batted .313 with three home runs and a team-best nine RBI and was named MVP of the American League Championship Series.

“Delmon is an experienced major league bat who will add some depth to our relatively inexperienced outfield and another layer of competition for playing time there as well,” said Amaro.

The first overall selection of the 2003 First-Year Player Draft by the Tampa Bay Rays, Young is a .284 career hitter with 89 home runs and 482 RBI in 880 games for the Rays (2006-07), Minnesota Twins (2008-11) and Tigers (2011-12). He has made 526 career starts in left field, 156 in right field and 29 in center field. Young has batted .310 (281-905) in his career with runners in scoring position and .336 (115-342) in 89 career interleague games against the National League.

Opinion: As I stated just a few hours ago, I don’t really see how this move changes the dynamic of the team. Unless the Phillies are so down on Darin Ruf and Domonic Brown that they thought they needed to do this.

Will this be a RF or LF platoon? Where does he fit in the lineup? If Domonic Brown does not get the opportunity to play a full season because of this move, then it’s an awful job by the front office. At some point, we have to see what Brown can do.

Ruf is different because he’s only done it at the minor league level. However, don’t you want to see what the kid can do after hitting 50-plus bombs?

Amaro is hoping that Young can be the low-risk, high-reward player he’s been seeking.